Happy to be back with these wonderful wordsmiths! Join us!
Monthly Archives: July 2025
8/9/25, Saturday, Pasadena, Birthday Show Second Saturdays w/JL & Friends
It’s my birthday show at Archetype on August 9 with a gang of guests from past Second Saturdays and First Fridays! I’ll do a set, too!
Second Saturdays Jazz Night w/ Jason Luckett & Friends
Saturday, August 9, 2025
7:30 Doors,
8pm Showtime, runs until 10:30
Performing:
Jason Luckett
Some of your favorites from the past 3 years, and more!
Hosted by Jason Luckett
Suggested donation: $25 at the door or online
Venmo: @jasonluckett (venmo.com/jasonluckett)
PayPal.me/jasonluckett
Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/3FMPOZo
Archetype Yoga
638 E. Colorado Blvd. Ste. 301
Pasadena, CA 91101
626-345-5676
Please RSVP to coordinate accessibility options. Elevator is in the back so we’ll need to meet you there.
In Playhouse Village in the heart of Pasadena, just around the corner from the Playhouse, plenty of parking on Colorado or in the city lot behind Urth Cafe.
Enter through the front, we’re on the third floor. Let us know if you need an elevator and will let you in the back through the alley. 626-345-5676
IG: @secondsaturdaysjazznight @jasonluckett @archetypeyoga
Thanks to Kimberly Fongheiser for the photo of me!
DETAILS:
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Posted in Shows Past
Sunday, 8/10/25 One of many at … Beatle Jam!
Always a joy! Not singing this time — I’m “just” playing the solo for “Something” (!!!!! — What? Yeah! One of my favorite guitar solos of all time! So much feel!!)
Nearly 50 of LA’s finest musicians will take the stage to celebrate The Beatles’ timeless catalog! Join us — sing along to your favorites, discover deep cuts, and soak in the magic. As always, they’ll kick things off with an acoustic opener to set the tone.
DETAILS:
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Posted in Shows Past
10/4/25 San Luis Obispo, Solo Show Adobe Court behind the Palm Theater
Songwriters at Play presents a concert in San Luis Obispo featuring Jason Luckett, L.A.-based singer-songwriter. The show will be outdoors in the Adobe Courtyard, 964 Chorro Street (behind the Palm Theater). Special guest Bailey Drew will open at 2pm. Tickets are $20 general admission, available now at https://jasonluckettinslo.eventbrite.com
Musician and writer Jason Luckett — raised in Southern California, with roots in Maine, Mississippi, and Hawaii — has released 7 albums, performed in the US, Europe, and India, including the Glastonbury Festival and South by Southwest (SXSW) as well as UCLA’s Royce Hall (with jazz legend, Kenny Burrell) and the ALOUD series from the LA Public Library. Primarily known as a singer and guitarist, his music mixes elements of classic singer-songwriters with the jazz, soul and samba he grew up hearing at home.
Fearlessly addressing topics of social justice in his songwriting, has led to publication of his lyrics and original essays in various anthologies, including The Black Body (Seven Stories) and Voices from Leimert Park (Tsehai). He writes music for theater and film, and has appeared in films and TV (La La Land, Scandal, Extended Family…). Jason has played, recorded or shared the stage with artists ranging from Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, BB King, Jeff Buckley, The Indigo Girls, Melissa Etheridge, and many more
Artist website: https://www.jasonluckett.com/
Live Performance Videos:
Bailey Drew is an L.A.-based singer-songwriter who grew up in Maryland. Follow her on Instagram: @baileydrewmusic
DETAILS:
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Posted in Shows
FAR-West Conference in Vancouver, Washington 10/8-10/10
FAR-West Conference Schedule
Thursday Night, October 9
Mother Hen Promotions / Two Blue Roses private showcase 11-11:55pm — 4 Songwriters in the Round
Everybody Sings —12:20-12:40am
Friday, October 10
My Presentation, Songs Between Us — 2-3:30pm
Official Showcase accompanying Zoe FitzGerald Carter — 9pm
“Chase Rainbows, Not Dustbunnies” — 10:30-11:30, one hour in the round with Milo Binder and Claudia Russell + Bruce Kaplan.
Songs Between Us is a 60-90 minute interactive workshop exploring ways to ignite songwriting in people of all ages, backgrounds and musical experience levels. Drawing on my work with youth, seniors, and multicultural communities, our core exercise combines visual prompts, storytelling, and music-making to spark creativity. Inspired by Colum McCann’s Narrative 4 and my own Merging Pictures workshops, participants will exchange and reimagine personal stories — using photographs and sensory details as entry points — then they’ll transform these fragments into building blocks for songs.
Additionally, we’ll explore inclusive approaches that guide groups toward songwriting, whether they’re beginners or seasoned artists. These include circle singing, line pattern techniques, and methods for building empathy, drawing out sensory language, and fostering trust through group dynamics. Attendees will leave with a new songwriting exercise and a practical toolkit for teaching, facilitation, or personal creative practice.
DETAILS:
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Posted in Shows
10/11, Santa Monica,From Emmett Till to SNCC & Beyond: Words + Music + Art
I’m honored to be a part of this evening. The asterisk next to my name is because there’s a chance that I will only be there via video due to my travel. We’re pre-taping just in case there are travel issues getting back from the Pacific Northwest. But I will be singing a song from the era and presenting an excerpt of the piece I shared in 2010. This will be a powerful night. So many good friends are also presenting.
“From Emmett Till to SNCC & Beyond: Words + Music + Art“ is a special live performance/visual arts benefit to support Highways, that is Vol. III of Highways’ acclaimed 2005 (Vol. I) & 2010 (Vol. II) performance/visual artists collective series—each a thematic homage to Emmett Till—originally curated by Highways legacy artist, Kevin Spicer. This year’s Vol. III features a collective of renowned performance & visual artists (some ’05 and/or ’10 “alumni”), commemorating two historic flashpoints that helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement: the 70th anniversary of 14 yr.-old Till’s brutal murder, and the ground-breaking SNCC’s 65th Anniversary. SNCC was founded five years after Till’s death by college students who were around his age in 1955, and they went on to organize historic sit-ins, Freedom Rides and voter registration campaigns in the Jim Crow South. In fact, SNCC held its first multi-day conference October 14-16, 1960, and on October 11, there will be special performances by original SNCC member/artist-activist, Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely and original Freedom Rider/artist-activist, David Crittendon.
Also performing in a powerful evening of words + music + art are (in alpha order): ADAAWE; Marc Broyard; Babe Evans; Brian Freeman; Joyce Guy; Jason Luckett*; Paul Outlaw*; Derek Shields*; and Pam Ward*; as well as Gia Scott-Heron and Art.Us Mansoir from the Off-Broadway hit, Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology, based on work by Gia’s Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award-winning father. While the visual artists graciously featuring select work in the special Highways Gallery installation include: artistic legend, Charles Dickson; artist-activist icon, Candace Hunter; and revered artist, Toni Scott; as well as Robert Stuart Lowden, Lori Antoinette, and award-winning artist, Hana Ward, who’s providing the digital version of a piece for narrative integration during the Benefit’s live performance. Also, in honor of Emmett Till and the youth that led SNCC, there will be a special exhibited piece by late aspiring teen artist, Justin Carr.
In addition, from now through Saturday, October 11, there is donated artwork available for bids** in the Benefit’s online Silent Art Auction—click here to bid. Co-curated by Spicer, the Benefit is being produced gratis by MoSamp Productions, with select segments directed by Phylliss Bailey Brooks. For further benefit details or questions, please go to tillartistscollective.org.
Get your Early Bird discounts now to support Highways with General Admission and Student/Senior Benefit tickets** (incl. post-show reception), as well as limited-quantity VIP Benefit tickets** (incl. the post-show reception, and the pre-show reception/art showing, with a listing in the Souvenir Program). By request Early Bird discounts have been extended through this Sunday, October 5, with regular rates resuming on Monday, October 6. For benefit sponsorship options, please click here. Highways is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and its Tax ID is 95-4231812. For individual donations only, please click here.
Current sponsors for “From Emmett Till to SNCC & Beyond: Words + Music + Art” include: The William & Ellen Craft Foundation, The Justin Carr Wants World Peace Foundation (JCWWP) and Now & Zen Productions.
* (special multimedia performances)
** (silent art auction winning bids and benefit tickets are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law)
DETAILS:
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Posted in Shows
CANCELED 10/11/25, Pasadena, Second Saturdays Jazz Night + with Jason Luckett & Friends
We’re taking the month off due to my busyness, but we will be back in November. In the meantime, if you’re near Santa Monica that night, please attend From Emmett Till to SNCC & Beyond: Words + Music + Art, there’s a 50/50 chance that I will be performing a song and excerpt from the piece I presented 15 years ago for The Emmett Till Project.
DETAILS:
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Posted in Shows
July Newsletter
Hey friends!
Before I get to the gigs, I want to celebrate my musical home and put out that I’m looking for a new music studio. I’ve been lucky to have a spot in a 100+ year-old building in the heart of Hollywood for the past decade, but the building’s been sold and I’m looking to find a new place this month. It was a unique situation, and I’d like to find something similar!
Here’s a look at some of the joys we’ve had there. Ten Years at McCadden. (And read more here.)
Our next Second Saturdays in Pasadena is on July 12. I’m excited to be joined by First Fridays/Second Saturdays alum, Alison Lewis, and Kēhau Kahananui with Jason Arimoto on ukulele, for an eclectic evening of song — and in the case of Kēhau’s set of Hawaiian music — dance! I will be accompanying all and doing my own set to close the night. Yes, there will be hula! And you may know that Hawaii is a very special place for me, so I can’t wait! Read about these brilliant artists here.
Then on July 22, I’m going to sing a couple of songs with the house band where FF/SS alum, Jami Lula is the music director, at the North Hollywood Church of Religious Science. I’ll be singing, “Silos (& Joy)” and “All Souls Are Free.” The theme is, “Big Spirit = Big Healing!” I’m up for that! 🙂
By the way, the photo with my “Worn Olive Drab” Epiphone Casino, by Kimberly Adamis Fongheiser, is from the Beatle Jam tribute to June birthday boy, Paul McCartney. I was playing George Harrison’s classic solo to “Till There Was You.” Then I sang “Michelle!” with the amazing house band’s harmonies (including FFJN alum, Lisa Crawley).
The week after the Beatle Jam, I did the Nilsson tribute at Molly Malone’s. This photo by Stevo Rood links to a video of my performance of “Open Your Window,” a lesser-known classic in the Nilsson catalog, once covered by Ella Fitzgerald and also The 5th Dimension! Thanks to my brilliant friend and occasional songwriting partner, Todd Lawrence, for putting this together. (Read about the rest in the YouTube description.)
Lastly, I just wanted to acknowledge that Tuesday would’ve been the 74th birthday of my friend, Anne Feeney, who I met at the Kerrville Folk Festival around 2007 or 8. She enlisted me to tour with her during the start of the Obama Administration to promote universal health care, the Sing Out For Single Payer Road Show. It was one of the most exciting tours of my life, being inspired by her endless energy and commitment to engaging, entertaining, and advocating. She passed in early 2021 from COVID-19. How I wish she were here now to speak, sing, and agitate! I recorded a version of her classic, “Have You Been To Jail For Justice” for her while she was in the hospital, if you’d like to hear it. But seek out her records and support the foundations set up in her name.
Wishing love, peace, and fortitude to you all! Have a safe holiday weekend! And I hope to see you the following weekend or be in touch soon!
J
PS Thanks to veteran IRS publicist Cary Baker for the top photo of me at the Nilsson show. He’s alway in the right place to get good shots!
-->Studio Sold, Seeking New, The Love Story [Update: Found!]
I am incredibly lucky!
And, the building where I’ve had my music studio for what’d be 10 years in October has been sold to owners that want to do something different with it.
UPDATE:
On the morning of July 31st, I saw a place 6 blocks from home! I grabbed it! Believe it or not, it’s less expensive and a little bit bigger functionally. I am incredibly lucky!
The skinny is that I need a new musical home somewhere before July 31.
Here’s the love story:
I started out in Laurel Canyon, renting a room adjacent to a garage — which I found on the Canyon Country Store board, I think — in a building owned by a photographer. The photographer had moved to LA from Israel in the 60s, was part of the Hollywood Foreign Press, and it turned out he knew well a dear departed Swedish friend of mine who’d written about me… Small world.
Initially, I was renting unknown to him from people who were renting from him. I was in love with that little place, so when he kicked out those tenants, he and his business partner tried to rent the huge house with me attached! Who does that? So generous and sweet! Well, when that situation didn’t work out, they rented me a space in their building across the street from Hollywood High School.
It was so much better!!
This place was on the top floor of an historic studio where Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and Frank Zappa had recorded in the 60s. And my now friend and his wife had bought it in the late 80s(?) and turned it into his photography studio, archive, and real estate office. The vibe is so historic here! He’d actually taken pictures of Laurel Canyon luminaries back in the day. It was all just a perfect circle.
I started using the place for my recording and bringing in other singers to do their records. But mostly it’s been my sanctuary. I learned how to sing loudly again after quieting my voice in shared spaces. I felt so free.
When I left Laurel Canyon, I moved to the edge of Beachwood, and this place became walking distance — which was extremely convenient when I was without my car for 4+ months during the catalytic converter theft epidemic! It’s a healthy walk, and I think some of you saw my posts about the local color as I walked down the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I still find it wonderful!
Here we got through the pandemic. Then the owner died. His wife and I both shared our cancer stories, learning about it within months of each other. She was the sweetest. She reminded me so much of my mom; we’d talk about theater and politics. And, of course, I was often enlisted for tech help! She passed about 18 months ago.
The children have finally sold the building, and it’s bittersweet.
This place is a veritable museum of collectibles. And just like I didn’t take many pictures while we were having sessions, I never took photos of the building or the legend that was posted, telling its history from 1922 when it was built.
I’ve made so much music here. I’ve found myself here. I’ve helped others do the same. My favorite comment came from a young artist who told her mother — who’s also recorded here — “We feel safe at Jason’s studio.” It wells me up even now to write that.
That’s what we’ve had here. We’ve had a safe space to be artists. That’s the greatest gift for any sensitive soul who wants to make art. I’m looking for another musical home for that.
I absolutely love my actual home, though it’s too small to bring the studio there. I’m willing to consider moving if finding a place to make music that fits in my total budget means that I’ll have to bring it in-house. Ideally, I want to find a separate place within my current neighborhood, meaning a two-mile walk. An ADU, a garage, whatever will work. This place did not look like a music studio when I took it over, despite the fact that it had been a control room prior to the 80s! I’m open to almost anything. The priority is to have a place to practice, record, and be creative.
I’m so grateful to all the artists who’ve been up my elevator-less three flights to create with me! And I’m grateful to the family that’s rented this space to me. It has been a joy! It hurts to see it come to an end, but as George Harrison said, “Sunrise doesn’t last all morning. A cloudburst doesn’t last all day.”
Much love to you all. Please send ideas my way, and prayers up, if you’re so inclined.
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